Balloon load harness



March 6, 1962 w. F. HUCH 3,023,982

BALLOON LOAD HARNESS Filed Aug. 28, 1959 4O a. Wz'Zlz'amFHlwh, 30 3mmUnited States Patent M 3,023,982 BALLOON LQAD HARNESS Wiliiam F. Huch,St. Paul, Minn, assignor, by nresne assignments, to the United States ofAmerica as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Aug. 28, 1959,Ser. No. 836,836 3 Claims. (Cl. 244-31) This invention relates to highaltitude plastic balloons of the bottom-appendix type, and is concernedmore particularly with an improvement in the suspension of the load.

The load often imposes severe stresses on the bottom of such a balloon.It has been the custom to employ a number of strings, usually six,uniformly spaced circumferentially, taped to the open bottom of thetruncated cone of plastic material of the balloon, and secured to a loadring, to suspend the load. Because of the strings, the balloon materialwas subjected to localized, rather than even, stressing, and, unlessapplied with extreme care, the taping could tear the balloon material.

It is an object of the invention to provide a balloon constructed tosupport a load in such a manner that the load does not locally stressthe balloon fabric.

Another object is to provide a plastic balloon with a bottom loadattachment having a valving opening and so constructed as to relieve theplastic of any local stresses which might tend to arise from the load.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds.

The invention will be better understood on reference to the followingdescription and the accompanying more or less schematic drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a fully inflated balloon systemconstructed in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view showing features of the inventionin detail.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view, partly in elevation, taken as indicated bythe line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows a first step in a method of making the harness.

FIG. 5 shows a panel resulting from the second step.

FIG. 6 shows a cylinder formed from the panel of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows the cylinder being taped to the bottom of the balloonplastic.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, disclosing anillustrative embodiment of the invention, there is shown at 10 a highaltitude balloon system comprising a balloon 12 of plastic such aspolyethylene or Mylar having, when, inflated, an inverted frusto-conicalbottom portion 14. An inverted cone 16 of light close-mesh cloth, suchas mosquito netting or curtain material, with the mesh biased, as shownat 18, is suspended from the bottom portion 14, and a load line 20,carrying a load 22, is suspended from the cone.

The cone 16 in accordance with the invention may be made from a cylinder26 formed by cutting unbiased mesh cloth from a bolt 28 of suitablewdith at suitably spaced 45 diagonals 30 to form a parallelogram panel32 and suitably seaming together the other two edges 34, as at 36, theedges 30 thus constituting the ends of the cylinder, and the mesh beingnow biased, as seen at 18. The panel 32 is dimensioned so that thecylinder diameter conforms to that of the rim 38 of the balloon portion14.

An end 30 of the cylinder 26 is now connected to the 3,023,982 PatentedMar. 6, 1962 rim 38 as by means of a tape 40 from a roll 42 and theapplication of heat to provide a firm juncture at 44. The upper end ofthe load line 28 is then knotted to provide a head 46 which is insertedin the lower end of the cylinder 26, whereupon the lower part of thecylinder is gathered so as to closely embrace the line below the headand there securely tied as at 48.

With this construction it is apparent that the load stress istransmitted by the bias-mesh cone 16 evenly to the circumference of theballoon rim, so that the balloon plastic cannot be subject to localstress, and thus a frequent cause of balloon failure on high altitudeflights is eliminated.

The cone 16 has the additional property, by reason of its porosity, ofproviding a bottom opening for the balloon. A standard or other suitableskirt type appendix (not shown) is used.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

1. A high altitude balloon system comprising a plastic balloon having aninverted frusto-conical bottom portion, a perforated inverted cone ofbias-mesh woven fabric secured at its base to the lower edge of saidbottom portion, the apex portion of the cone being open, a load lineclosely embraced by the apex portion of the cone, and a load suspendedfrom the line, the line having within the cone a terminal head engagingthe cone and of a size such that it will not pass through the apexportion of the cone, whereby the cone will transmit load stressuniformly to the circumference of said bottom portion.

2. A high altitude balloon system comprising a plastic balloon having aninverted frusto-conical bottom portion, a skirt of the same girth as andsealed throughout its upper circumference to the bottom margin of theballoon plastic, said skirt having a mosquito netting mesh with thethreads biased to the ends of the skirt, and a load line having a headin and engaging the skirt, the bottom of the skirt being gathered andsecured about the line below the head and positively preventing the headfrom escape therethrough.

3. In a high altitude balloon system, a plastic film balloon having aninverted frusto-conical bottom portion, a bias-mesh netting skirt whoseupper end is continuously sealed to the entire circumference of the openbottom margin of said portion, a load line terminating at its upper endin a knot within the skirt, the lower end of the skirt being gatheredand tied about and against the line below the knot and engaging thebottom of the knot and positively preventing the knot from passingtherethrough, the entire load carried by the balloon being suspendedfrom the line.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,336,030 Gammeter Apr. 6, 1920 2,728,540 Ebneter Dec. 27, 19552,771,256 Ryan Nov. 20, 1956 2,880,946 Froehlich Apr. 7, 1959 2,900,147Huch Aug. 18, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 538,414 France Mar. 18, 1922

